


SnowBlind

by crankyoldman



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Gen, Team Cactuar, time kompression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-17
Updated: 2011-10-17
Packaged: 2017-10-24 17:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/266080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crankyoldman/pseuds/crankyoldman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I would never tell you to talk to a wall, take away your authority, or that you are anything but my perfect Knight."</p>
            </blockquote>





	SnowBlind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [irishais](https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishais/gifts).



> Prompt: _Quistis is knighted instead of Seifer._
> 
>  _This doesn't have to be "in-game" at all, obviously. Short, long, whatevs. Things I would like: mother/daughter theme, the effect of Sorceress magic on Quistis' Blue Magic, maybe Quistis' Time Compression sequence for a more specific point._
> 
> Title and much of the mood is taken from Tori Amos's new album. So yeah. This is supposed to be spooky as hell. Not gonna lie, I would so write this entire AU in a heartbeat.

It had been so easy.

Quistis had been made powerless, and Edea made her powerful. A simple exchange really. She had only promised loyalty and success; things that she was accustomed to anyway. Quistis had felt the power the instant the bond was formed, and everything looked clearer then.

 _I would never tell you to talk to a wall, take away your authority, or that you are anything but my perfect Knight._

It was stupid to think that anyone would ever romanticize the bond between Sorceress and Knight. There was no trust in relationships, only disappointment, and in the Bond there was only trust, uncluttered by divisive and dramatic emotions. Every doubt she had ever had about herself had been erased, replaced with a warm voice that told her she was special. Perfect. Needed.

"Lady, I believe they will try and stop you. I can take care of it before they even try."

The bond amplified the magics she used to borrow from GFs. The monsters had become her spies, and while they didn't _think_ , they could see, and feel, and the path of destruction a group of SeeDs made as they trained was a pretty obvious pattern. Simple swirls of anger and the spark of fear and then simply darkness.

 _I know you will stop all who oppose me. Go, my child._

The Sorceress knew who they were, so Quistis knew her targets. It was strange how she felt absolutely nothing as she stalked their routines, tinged with recent memories of walking the same halls and classrooms. She was supposed to be taking a break after her demotion, no one would wonder as to why she was in the Garden.

Selphie was the first. Quistis could not abide her magic--bright, too bright _yellow_ \--threatening her Sorceress's cool shadow. And Selphie had smiled at her, because she only saw the Quistis she wanted to see, the patient Teacher, until the whip tightened around her neck, leaving her smile on her neck.

The others fell into place, lining up in perfect patterns.

Quistis saw that the security investigated the transfer student, Irvine, in connection to Selphie's murder. The fact that he later poisoned himself in detention, out of guilt for his crime, closed the case rather nicely. And she'd only needed to distract one person when they brought him his meal.

A locked door in the Training Area took care of Zell, though he held out longer than she would have expected. She had been ready with a sleeping potion when he finally fell under exhaustion, the T-Rexaurs took care of the rest.

She came back to her Sorceress under the cover of night, uncoiling her long dark hair from her headdress. Quistis plaited it carefully, making sure not to pull on the scalp.

"There are only two left. Soon we will have no one to stop us."

 _There are four. Two very visible, and two hidden. You will understand the hidden ones by the strands they leave behind. Follow them._

Her Sorceress's will was her will, the warmth of approval. A hand taking hers in a storm.

"The boys will be easy then."

Alone, each of them were unstable, but together they were volatile. A thousand unsaid words and a thousand grievances in the place of those words. It didn't take much to set Seifer off; dream utterances and a few smoke and mirrors. A well-timed spell during their training session and the scars ran so much deeper than either had intended upon the other.

The side of her mouth curled up as the surprise registered on their faces, the blood coming just a little faster and so much more of it than they anticipated.

"See Mother? See what I can do for you?" Sorceress was just another word for _mother_ , how she had uttered it. They were going to reorder the world, and no one was going to stop them. Quistis had become the daughter of raw power, the daughter of secrets, and She would always approve.

But there was only silence when the white feathers started to fall from the sky, like snow or explosive fallout. Quistis reached and _reached_ but there was no magic, no Edea, nothing to hold onto. It had all turned to smoke.

She fell to her knees.

 **Love is never earned, only given.**

"I can't give anymore."

The feathers were falling so thickly now that only the outlines of the two female figures before her could be made out; one with long hair and wings, another with shorter hair and talons.

 **You are not alone. You were never alone.**

\---

"Mrs. Kramer."

She was so much smaller now, without the headdress and back piece. Quistis found something profoundly sad in how small she was now.

"Quistis."

"I... have a lot I've been wanting to say to you. But I want to know, when we were in Time Compression, what did you see?"

There was merrymaking and some giggles and whispers around them, but in the quiet corner Quistis had Edea's full attention, and all the noises seemed to be growing more distant. She almost wanted to reach out with a phantom power she never had and see if the monsters were celebrating too.

"The most painful thing I could imagine."

Quistis took a deep breath. "Which was?"

"Living out the normal life I was denied. Seeing the people you children would have become."

Something caught in her throat. "And... are you not proud of us?"

When Edea focused on a person, the impact of her gaze as an ex-Sorceress was far more disarming than when she was one. In it was the humbling adoration of the only mother she'd ever forgotten.

"My brave Quistis, I could not be prouder of what you have become without me."

 _See Matron, I made them stay quiet so you could sleep! Even Seifer is quiet now. I'll take care of everything, you look so tired._

There were a lot of things left to forgive, to live through, to talk about. Quistis would not cry, but she buried her face in Edea's shoulder despite, gingerly holding onto her small frame. She had seen too much to worry about if anyone saw her like this.

"It's what I actually wanted to become that you should be worried about."


End file.
